Captain Tannoran’s home as viewed from the carriage window was much like Erin expected—a walled-in manor not unlike something she’d see in fantasy movies or video games. There was a stable for horses, a miniature aerie for his personal griffin, a few buildings for farm animals and manor staff, and a two-story, sprawling house.
The carriage stopped at the main entrance to the house, and Tannoran himself opened the door for Erin to step down, messenger bag hanging at her hip. That was where any semblance of chivalry seemed to end. Kaleit caught up and walked beside his father as they took the steps to the house, leaving the girl apparently forgotten in their wake.
As they entered the house, Tannoran took off his gloves and set them on a shelf in the entryway. “You’ll report to the Aerie at seventh hour, and return to the house immediately after the Aeriemaster releases you.” He spoke without addressing or even facing Erin, but she understood that the direction was meant for her. “Do as you like in the evenings, but after work hours you are not permitted to leave the manor grounds without an escort.” He glanced at his son, barely taking a breath in between. “Show her to the guest wing. Any room will do.”
Dismissing them both without so much as another word or glance, the captain walked away. Kaleit stood with a peevish look on his face before abruptly going off in the other direction toward the stairwell up to the second floor. Erin hurried after him, taking one step at a time for every two his long legs easily climbed.
In the hallway at the top, Kaleit opened the door of the first room he came to, and gestured vaguely for her to enter. “Here’s your room.”
Erin peered in, immediately noticing that the windows were on the wrong side of the house. “But this one won’t get any sun in the morning,” she said. “Can’t I look at the rooms on the other side of the hall? Your father said I could have any one of them.”
“He said any one will do, not that you could pick and choose like you were browsing at market.”
“What’s the harm in letting me pick out my own room?”
“You think you, an outlander, have any rights here? I’ve never even—“ Kaleit broke off, pressed his lips together and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. After a deep breath, he started again, more calmly than before. “I am the firstborn son of the lord of this manor—a Captain in the King’s Guard—a rightful citizen by birth, and even I was not given such a choice. Take the room and be grateful.”
When she still hesitated, the irritated look in his eyes intensified. Guess he expects me to obey him just like he obeys his father. She glared back, crossing her arms. In your dreams, buddy.
“Right,” said Kaleit. “You’ll definitely find some man willing to claim you.”
“Excuse me? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Koben should’ve tossed you right back into the water with the merlings, that’s what.” He sent a critical glance down to her feet, then back up, an obvious wrinkle of disgust in his nose. “You’ve certainly got the manners of one. I’m sure they’d be only too happy take you in off the street, feed and clothe you for no other reward but your whining and foot-stomping.”
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“Look, I get it. I’m grateful, but literally all I wanted was to pick which room I stay in while I’m here. Is it really that big of a deal?”
When he nodded, something about the way he looked down his nose at her made her stomach squirm a little, and this time it had nothing to do with her missing scars. He said nothing more, and went back downstairs.
As soon as he was out of sight, Erin stubbornly took a step toward the room across the hall, but something stopped her before her hand even touched the doorknob.
Kaleit had made it sound like non-citizens were considered less than human. Was that really true? What kind of trouble would befall her if she disobeyed and got caught in the wrong room? It all seems so stupid, she thought. I guess I won’t have the sun to wake me up in the morning, then, but maybe the tablet…
In her assigned room, she shut and locked the door, sat on the bed, and took out her tablet. It’d been weeks since she last used any sort of electronics, and it felt somehow strange when she pressed the power button and watched the logo come up. Old group chat messages popped up in the notifications. There’d been five before she’d woken up on Koben’s ship. Erin swiped them away quickly, trying not to think about what that might mean. All the tablet would be good for now was its flashlight app and wake up alarms.
Erin opened the clock app and started to set up her alarm, careful to make sure it would go off as a soft vibrate-only. Phantom music coming from underneath her pillow would certainly draw some unwanted attention if someone happened to be near enough to hear when it went off. Now that was a scary thought. She was nearly done when a new notification popped up on the screen, telling her that the Emerrane wiki had been updated.
Dumbfounded, she stared at the text.
After a time, Erin tapped the notification, and was surprised when the website actually came up. She opened a new tab to try a search engine, but got an error that the site she was trying to visit was offline. A few other familiar URLs resulted in the same error. Back on the wiki, she clicked a random page and it came right up, loading with better speed than she ever had at home.
On a whim, she clicked the link that led to her author profile on the site she’d chosen to post her future novel on, and when it loaded, both of her hands dropped into her lap, still clutching the tablet. She gaped at the list of eleven chapters that showed under her own username. It was all there. The capture of Wrath. Arlis and the crazy wagon ride to the Aerie. Meeting Kaleit. Whatever happened to her and Desmond in Emerrane was somehow appearing online as fully-written text. Readers were even leaving comments on it. There was no way… right? How could that be possible?
Erin stared a hole in the tablet, trying to figure it out. There wasn’t even any wifi or data connectivity. And where was the “new post” button anyway? What about the private message button? That was missing, too.
She went back to the wiki’s lore pages and found that new items had been added there as well. Checking out the World Information section, she began to read about citizenship, wondering if perhaps the status of her sponsor—a Captain in the King’s Guard, came the mocking mental impression—would give her some kind of boost.
Sadly, it was no dice.
Technically, her rank was something comparable to that of a little kid, zero rights or autonomy, yet it was even worse than that. She had Tannoran’s financial support as far as food and shelter and could legally live and work in the city, but couldn’t choose where she lived, where she worked or for whom. Beyond that, she had nothing. No protection whatsoever. It was a one-shot benefit. Sponsorship was apparently such a privilege that not even Koben could do anything for her if she willingly left, or was ejected from Tannoran’s care… and Erin was no wilderness survival expert.
Next, she checked character profiles for Tannoran and Kaleit, but they failed to tell her anything she didn’t already know. Multiple sections under both of theirs and several other profiles had an “Unlocked in Future Chapters” graphic in place of any text, indicating that there were facts that would be revealed as the story progressed.
Sighing, she shut the tablet off to save battery. With what sun was left for the day, she set it up to charge on the window sill. Feeling suddenly very alone, she hoped it would not be long before she could see Des—Leslyn again.